I think a section about cults is a great idea. I went to college in the early 1970s, which may have been a heyday for cult groups. During my time at college, the campus was simply swarming with cults: Moonies, Hare Krishnas, Nam Ho Ringe Kyos, Sri Chinmoys, and members of the little known and long forgotten Manhattan Project . As someone who had stopped believing in God just after I turned 11, I was incensed every time I saw someone who belonged to a cult. I had to fight the urge to deprogram each and every one of them.

The first I ever heard of the Moonies was when I saw one of their posters, advertising a “Seminar for Student Leaders”, that was posted all over school. I suppose they rounded up a bunch of eager young dopes, bussed them up to a dump in the country for a fun-filled weekend and brainwashed the heck out of them. And presto, changeo, they’re a zombie for life.

The Rev. Sun Young Moon must have declared war on my college because he deployed several hundred of his followers to campus on my graduation day. To make matters worse, all the Moonies were dressed in brightly colored prison jumpsuits. I was mortified—graduation was ruined. Years later I would be even more horrified to learn that the school had sold the Moonies the old Women’s Faculty Club.

Every day, a dorky young man showed up for one my classes dressed like the Good Humor Man. He wore a white shirt, white pants, and blue windbreaker with the words “Sri Chinmoy” embroidered across the back in giant letters. My assigned seat was directly behind his so I couldn’t avoid staring at his idiotic jacket. I was often tempted to add a “kick me” sign.

I remember when my boyfriend was upset because some Nam Ho Ringe Kyos had entered his dorm room, placed an alter on his wall and taught him how to pray to it. They told him if he ever tried to remove it, he would die a horrible death. I rushed over to his dorm room, removed the “alter” (a Macy’s gift box with some weird stuff in it), threw it in the trash and gave him a stern lecture on the importance of thinking for himself. Later when the cultists called, I grabbed the phone and warned them never to call again.

Every so often, I’d see a stray Hare Krishna or two selling flowers and begging in the street. It was hard to miss them with their emaciated bodies wrapped in orange bed sheets, repulsive shaved heads and dried egg white painted on their pathetic faces. I cringed whenever I saw them.

But without a doubt, the weirdest cult at school was the now forgotten Manhattan Project. When I was a freshman, one of the students in mky dorm was a pretty blonde who looked like Sandra Dee and wore miniskirts. At some point, she stopped bleaching her hair and started dressing like an Amish woman. Soon she dropped out of school.

The followers of the Manhattan Project believed the world was going to end on a date that at the time seemed terribly remote—the year 1977. Their leader was a grotesque 400 pound man with long, stringy hair. He roamed the campus dressed in a floor length black cape and a giant crucifix. I remember remember reading a full-page article in Time Magazine that outlined the sad story of this pretty young woman and the bizarre cult that ruined her life.

Before we can discuss the subject of “New religious movement”, we have
to know what they really say and not what anti-cult organisations say.

Here is the on-line text of The Urantia book
The Urantia Book’s view of science, philosophy, and religion is perhaps the clearest and most concise integration of these subjects available to contemporary man. There is little question among the over 400,000 people who have purchased, read, and who study the Book: The Urantia Book has the capacity to make a significant contribution to the religious and philosophical thinking of all peoples; it truly has the potential to shape world destiny.

Another religions that intrigue me is The Bahá’í Faith
The Bahá’í Faith upholds the unity of God, recognizes the unity of His Prophets, and inculcates the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the entire human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and claims that nothing short of the transmuting spirit of God, working through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about. It, moreover, enjoins upon its followers the primary duty of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all manner of prejudice and superstition, declares the purpose of religion to be the promotion of amity and concord, proclaims its essential harmony with science, and recognizes it as the foremost agency for the pacification and the orderly progress of human society. It unequivocally maintains the principle of equal rights, opportunities and privileges for men and women, insists on compulsory education, eliminates extremes of poverty and wealth, abolishes the institution of priesthood, prohibits slavery, asceticism, mendicancy and monasticism, prescribes monogamy, discourages divorce, emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one’s government, exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship, urges either the creation or the selection of an auxiliary international language, and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind.

I suggest you also give a look to the Raelian UFO religion books
The Elohim entrusted Raël with the mission of propagating this revolutionary revelation and building an Embassy where they will officially return very soon, along with the Great Prophets of Old, sent by the Elohim in ancient times, such as Jesus, Moses, Buddha, and Mohammed, who are still alive on their planet, thanks to an evolved technique of cloning, the secret of eternal life through scientific resurrection.

[quote author=“Anonymous”]Before we can discuss the subject of “New religious movement”, we have
to know what they really say and not what anti-cult organisations say.

Sorry Guest, I completely disagree with you. Every thing I know about these noxious cult groups comes from my own experience and my reading of the general media.

I do not need to read the literature written by the cult groups themselves to know that they are promoting dangerous beliefs, mindless conformity, and absolute nonsense. Studying such propaganda is a waste of my time, and it is a waste of your time.

The members of the Bahai faith whom I have met were without exception extremely odd. I haven’t run across any Raelians but I would bet that collectively they’re among the most deranged people on the planet today.

It’s interesting you posted this message as a guest. This fact and the content of your message tells me you are sympathetic towards cults and may even belong to one of them yourself. If this is correct, I recommend you seek professional help to break free from your bondage as soon as possible.

[quote author=“Anonymous”]
The Elohim entrusted Raël with the mission of propagating this revolutionary revelation and building an Embassy where they will officially return very soon, along with the Great Prophets of Old, sent by the Elohim in ancient times, such as Jesus, Moses, Buddha, and Mohammed, who are still alive on their planet,

Thanks Anonymous,
I’d be real interested in visiting that planet one day,
Any advice on how to get there??

[quote author=“Anonymous”]Before we can discuss the subject of “New religious movement”, we have
to know what they really say and not what anti-cult organisations say.

Maybe I should have defined the word cult since for many it carries differing meanings

When I use the word “cult” I mean an organisation that tries to gain total control over a persons life through use of deception and other thought reform techniques, (sleep deprevation, use of guilt, strong peer preasure to conform etc) Such organisations usually do this for some rather unspiritual motives, money, power and sex seem to be the big 3.

Cult counsellor Rick Ross has on his site a great list of warning signs of a destructive group. I witnessed all of these in the cult I encountered and after reading about many other cults and attending an information session of another, I’m sure these traits can be found in all of the groups I mentioned above including the Raelians and their home planet where Jesus and Buddha now reside:

I suspect someone who sees ONLY the bad side of NRM has been
influenced by anti-cult litterature or is a member of THE good religion.

We live in a world where religions won’t dissapear tomorrow, so why
not try to understand our differences instead of rejecting everything?

Sam Harris likes Transcandantal meditation which is considered a
dangerous cult by many christians anti-cult organisations.

A religion is a cult that has succeeded. Who knows which of todays
cults will be tomorrows major religions?

The point of Sam Harris’s book is that irrational religious beliefs may
cause the end of humanity with weapons of mass destruction. Even
Christians claims that Jesus will return to send bad peoples in hell
for eternity. Some cult members cannot wait and want to do the job
themselves. Thats the biggest problem of religious beliefs.

Even if atheist would want to send religious people to prison or death,
that would be innacceptable. Love and non-violence is the only solution
for the survival of humanity. (Sam Harris thinks that some wars are OK)

[quote author=“Anonymous”]
So are you for the freedom of religions or freedomm “from” religions?

Freedom to chose without being lied to.
I’m not against reigion if it offers a source of hope and comfort
Just against it when its used as a tool to control people, ala the above mentioned cults

Check out my sig, guy claims to be Jesus, wanted for rape by Interpol,
Has branches in unversities across the US. None of its members are told he is a wanted fugitive. Original sin is sex, but if you have sex with the Messiah you can go to heaven….
Is that the kind of new religion you support? Is it possible some of these new religions are cons?

I haven’t been influenced by anti-cult propaganda. I witnessed some incrdedibly bizarre stuff all of which Rick Ross’s and Steven Hassan’s sites described exactly. But I didn’t need those to tell me something was very very wrong in the town I was living in.
Are you in LA?
You wanna visit this cult and tell me if they tell you their God is on the run fleeing some rather serious charges?http://www.gacpla.org/

Ask where the leader is and if you can met him, you should get some interesting answers.